Film/TV Archives - Page 2 of 5

08Sep

My Ad Hoc This is Where I Leave You Book Club

Tonight turned into a very unusually spectacular Sunday night, and I owe it to all to a book. A few close friends popped over (well, it was planned) to discuss the book This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. Armed with a bottle of Prosecco and snacks in a dimly lit room, we were all excited to talk about the book at hand. We had never had a book club together as I had chosen the group myself, based on a group of women I felt would truly gel and potentially have an interesting discussion together. We were different personalities and origins, Read More

20Aug

This is Where I Leave You Book Club

Posted by The Culture Mom 5 Comments

This is a sponsored post. Are you like me and you love to read the book before the movie? In high school, I took a film adaptation class and we read books before we saw the film, analyzing The Great Gatsby to The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. We discussed what was left in and what was left in, discerning the screen writer's decisions and how literary elements are transported to the screen. Ever since then, I've always been interested in films that are adaptations and I look for faithful re-tellings of stories. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Read More

24Jul

The Hundred-Foot Journey, a Tale of Food and Travel

Posted by The Culture Mom 4 Comments

You can't deny the thrill of seeing a film, in this case The Hundred-Foot Journey, that so beautifully weaves together the things you love most in life. About a month ago, Chef did that so skillfully, weaving together food, social media, humor, travel and great story-telling. I left the theater craving Spanish food and was also hungry for more movies with relevance to the times we are living in. It also made me think more about the life of a chef, something I had never really thought about. I was looking for a another chance to do it again. And here Read More

16Jun

Belle, the Movie: Important and Timeless

Posted by The Culture Mom 1 Comment

I'm not sure why it's taken me a few weeks to write about a film that struck me as a must see, so I'm writing this now. I hope that you don't let this film pass you by. Not only is it a riveting story but it's historical about a subject and time we know little about. Directed by Amma Asante, Belle is a story about race, class and gender that is both important and timeless. The story has hints of Jane Austen, capturing the tale of a woman struggling to define herself in a culture tied up in traditional cultural and societal norms. About Belle The Read More

30Mar

A 1980s Film Binge Fest on Netflix

Posted by The Culture Mom 2 Comments

I'm a child of the 1980s and the pop culture from that time period stands out in my memory and will forever more. I loved the music, TV shows and the movies...ahhh, the movies. Films back then were kind of ground-breaking. They delved into topics of teenage-dom and adulthood that had never been touched on. Some were hits and we all saw them over and over. Some just wasted away into oblivion and returned as cult favorites many years later. I've spent the last few months pulling some out of my memory's list and have been re-watching them with my Read More

21Feb

Just Me, Myself and Netflix

Posted by The Culture Mom Leave a Comment

Tonight I find myself alone in the house. My husband and kids are away. I could be out on the town, at the movies, at a play. I could go dancing and stay up all night (yeah, right, I haven't done that in YEARS!). But the truth is all I want to do is sit on the couch with my Netflix remote, go into my list of saved features and watch TV all night long. I didn't realize it before today but I think I fell in love with Netflix. Well, my husband realized it before I did. Every night I swoon at the offerings as I slowly put one another into my list. As I Read More

13Jan

On Woody Allen’s Involuntary Twitter Confinement

Posted by The Culture Mom 4 Comments

If you read my site semi-regularly, you know that I'm a big Woody Allen fan. I've been a die-hard fan of for most of my life. My infatuation started in high school and then, as a film minor in college, I watched all his movies and analyzed them (I have the papers to prove it). I was a walking Woody Allen encyclopedia and have been going to his movies the night they premiere (ask my husband as he's typically my companion). for years. I even slipped my resumé under the door of his production office after arriving in NYC a few years later. I've been to Read More

30Dec

My Favorite Posts of 2013 and Hello, 2014

Posted by The Culture Mom 1 Comment

It's my annual tradition to look back at the year in review. When I started to think about 2013, I thought I had nothing to write about. It hasn't been my best year, but somehow along the way, I managed to get more accomplished than I realized. Rather than bore you to tears with a long post, I'm going to give it to you in small chunks. My most popular posts: A visit to the set of Orange is the New Black seems to have hit a nerve with my readers and also happens to be have been my favorite blogging experience of the year. I interviewed Read More

14Dec

Review: Saving Mr. Banks

Posted by The Culture Mom Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered about the creative process behind one of your favorite films? There are so many pieces that have to come together in the making of any film, including the personalities behind each function. There are films that we love so much, that are a part of our heritage, of our existence, but do you ever stop to think about what went on behind the scenes? Let's pick a film like Mary Poppins...a film that we all grew up with and urge our children to watch...a film with a powerful message, a brilliant cast and the music, ahhh, the Read More

11Nov

The Holocaust Documentary Kinderblock 66

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Yesterday I experienced a movie that I am going to be thinking about for many days to come. It was about the beauty that can be found even in the darkest places. The title of the film was Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald. We all know about the despicable acts that occurred during the Holocaust, but it's nice to be reminded of the courageous acts that were also undertaken to keep Jews safe, just as Schindler in Schlinder's List did. This film reminds us of both the atrocities and the miracles that occurred during the Holocaust, and it is a firm Read More